Dr. Stephen Acuff & friends in Belize.

Various groups of dental volunteers travel to Belize for short-term missions and donate their time and skills in our clinic at St. Mary the Virgin Anglican School in Belize City. Project Smile serves children from eight different special schools, including the blind, mentally and physically handicapped, and deaf. We provide bus transportation to our permanent clinic at St. Mary’s School.

Read Dr. Acuff’s “Savannah Best” bio here.

We treat children ages 4 – 14 years, provide cleanings, fluoride treatments, fillings, and treat abcesses. Every child in the school receives toothbrushes and toothpaste, which are used at school every day after lunch. Every Wednesday they receive a fluoride rinse.

We have also helped establish a school lunchroom to provide hot school lunches for the children. Before this the children brought their own food or usually had no lunch. In 2001 Project Smile built a Playground and swing set on a newly filled in school area. We hauled in 80 truckloads of soil and added a drainage system. This had been a low-lying damp yard full of construction debris.

We have reduced dental decay over 62% in the children we serve. We are able to do this because of the generosity of individuals, and other organizations.